Sorry I should have said if he goes to the highest bidder (Parise didn't). Parise signed his deal under the old CBA and that's why Kessel might end up at a higher cap hit...

Here's what Zach gets on the first seven years of his deal: 12, 12, 11, 9, 9, 9, 9. Averages out to over $10m/year. Nobody is going to give Kessel that money, but he's going to get $8-9m year for a handful of years on the front of his deal (again if he takes the biggest offer) just like every other marquee player does, and there is no longer any way to tack on a bunch of low salary years at the end to drive the cap hit into that $6-7m territory that the marquee guys got in the last CBA.

In this CBA we are going to see high end first liners routinely end up in that $7.5-8.5m territory, second liners making $5m and the depth guys getting what's left.

Especially in this next offseason when the cap ceiling is going to explode and everyone will have money to play with. Guys like the Sedins, Thornton, Marleau, Bergeron etc are going to get locked up to extensions over the next year and there's going to be a huge pool of UFA money with at most a handful of first liners available.

Semin spent 5 seasons with Backstrom and Ovie, and has now moved on to Eric Staal.

I am not discounting Semin's offensive ability, but he has undeniably been helped to his totals by some of the best players (definitely 2, arguably 3 of the top 10) since the last lockout.

However, I think as a stand alone player, Kessel is the better "DIY" offensive asset.

IMO, his agent should be touting him similarily to Rick Nash. Though they play a different game, their numbers trend remarkably similar, and they succeed with "nobody to play with".

Nash is a career -55 and has NEVER topped 80 points. In 214 more NHL games than Kessel, he has 210 more points with a slightly higher points per game clip (.82 for Nash, .75 for Kessel). It is not unreasonable to assume that Kessel can and will pace at ~1.0 ppg over the next 3 seasons. Given a full season, he was on pace for ~90 this year, and was bang on at 82 for 2011-12.

I would wager that in 3 seasons, Kessel's numbers will be almost identical to Nash's (now), and possibly the edge given to Kessel with an already "better", and likely still to improve +/-.

Though I would assume his 're-up' (or subsequent FA Market experience) is heavily dependant on the first 40 games of next season, It is not unreasonable to think that Kessel will command somewhere in the 7.5M range if his numbers continue to improve.

Burmistrov...a skinny guy who is easily knocked off the puck. I realize he's Russian and this type of thing is always possible but it makes one wonder if Mason Raymond is having issues finding employment in the NHL this offseason. As much as I can see Raymond can move the play forward (then promptly curl back along the boards and lose the puck!) and plays well defensively I think nearly every GM will take a hit on those qualities and go for the guy that brings some size and grit to the wing. Especially in the bottom 6...and Raymond isn't a top 6 guy. That much is clear.

tantalum wrote:Burmistrov...a skinny guy who is easily knocked off the puck. I realize he's Russian and this type of thing is always possible but it makes one wonder if Mason Raymond is having issues finding employment in the NHL this offseason. As much as I can see Raymond can move the play forward (then promptly curl back along the boards and lose the puck!) and plays well defensively I think nearly every GM will take a hit on those qualities and go for the guy that brings some size and grit to the wing. Especially in the bottom 6...and Raymond isn't a top 6 guy. That much is clear.

Yeah, it sounds like the rumours of MayRay signing in Calgary were just that, Rumors. It's come out that there have been no discussions between Raymond's agent and the Flames.